


Secret Santas

by jooliewrites



Category: How to Get Away with Murder
Genre: Alternate Universe - Office, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Co-workers, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-29
Updated: 2016-02-29
Packaged: 2018-05-24 00:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6134955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jooliewrites/pseuds/jooliewrites
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Secret Santas were supposed to give gift cards to Starbucks or Target.</p><p>Secret Santa was supposed to be about the game. Coming in that morning to find your present neatly tucked into your mailbox or sitting on your  desk. Spending the rest of the day trying to guess who was behind the red wrapping paper and green ribbons.</p><p>Secret Santas were supposed to buy something silly.</p><p>Secret Santas weren’t supposed to buy plane tickets.</p><p>+</p><p>A Coliver Christmas AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	Secret Santas

**Author's Note:**

> Anonymous prompt: ‘I got you for secret santa so I got you this really expensive but sentimental gift that you’ve always wanted, hoping you’ll never find out it’s from me - and that I’ve been in love with you 1234567 years’ Christmas au
> 
> +
> 
>  
> 
> [originally posted](http://ramblesandreblogs.tumblr.com/post/135744955618/nonny-prompt-i-got-you-for-secret-santa-so-i-got)

Secret Santas were supposed to give gift cards to Starbucks or Target or…anywhere really. Lotions and lip gloss. Knick knacks and dust collectors for a cubicle. Candy and sweets that no one needed.

Secret Santas were supposed to give crap presents that made you laugh or played on inside office jokes. It was supposed to be a fun way to spread a little holiday cheer around the office and get everyone excited about the notoriously shitty - and always mandatory - office holiday party.

Secret Santa was supposed to be about the game. Coming in that morning to find your present neatly tucked into your mailbox or sitting on your desk. Spending the rest of the day trying to guess who was behind the red wrapping paper and green ribbons. Joking with each other in the staff lounge and exchanging theories with Luisa from admin or Andrew from marketing before the Santas revealed themselves at the office party.

Secret Santas were supposed to buy something silly.

Secret Santas weren’t supposed to buy plane tickets.

Connor stared down at the card in his hand before reading the message again. There, neatly printed in a careful hand:

_ Everyone should be with those they love on Christmas. _

_ Merry Christmas, Connor. _

_ -Your Secret Santa _

Then, the two pre-printed tickets slipped inside:

_ Walsh / Connor - Flight 8895 - Philadelphia International to Gerald R. Ford Airport - 24 December 2015 - Depart: 5:47 AM / Arrive: 7:38 PM _

_ Walsh / Connor - Flight 4782 - Gerald R. Ford Airport to Philadelphia International - 27 December 2015 - Depart: 8:36 PM / Arrive: 10:29 PM _

It had to be joke. One of the crueler jokes that had ever been played on him but Connor just knew it had to be joke.

Secret Santas didn’t buy plane tickets.

A Secret Santa wouldn’t take it upon themselves to make sure Connor got home for Christmas. They wouldn’t care that he would be spending the holiday in an empty, cold apartment and ensure that Connor would spend the happy day in the warm comfort of home with his parents and sister and family around instead.

Connor knew it was a joke but he couldn’t help letting his mind whirl just a bit with the possibility of it.

He could go home for Christmas. He’d actually make the Christmas Eve party this year - a Walsh family tradition that Connor hadn’t missed since his seventh December 24th when he’d been down for the count with chicken pox. He could be with his parents and sister and brother-in-law and niece and nephew and family and friends as they all counted down the hours until Christmas.

Maybe, if he was lucky, he could bunk that night at Gemma’s and get woken up Christmas morning by the joyful excitement of his niece and nephew shaking him awake with a ‘Come on, Uncle Connor! Santa CAME!’

Then, after a day spent warm by the fire listening to Christmas carols and catching up with old friends, Connor had the rest of the weekend to spend with all of them. Building snowmen and going ice skating and being within reach of those he loved at Christmas.

It was a joke. It had to be a joke. Who would play such a joke?

“So, any word yet on your St. Nick?” Michaela asked as she sat down next to him and handed over one of the glasses of white wine she was carrying.

“No.” Connor slipped the card and tickets back into the envelope. He knocked the edge of the envelope twice against the table and surveyed the room and all of his partying coworkers. No one had approached him since the party started and he was getting pissed. Secret Santas were supposed to reveal themselves by now.

“Oh.” Michaela looked around the room too. “Mine was that new Anders guy in accounting. He looked so nervous telling me about how he got advice from his girlfriend about what to get. I didn’t have the heart to tell him Bath & Body Works makes me break out.” She gestured to the envelope in Connor’s hand. “Wanna trade with me?”

“Not this year,” Connor told her and downed half the glass of wine.

The end of the party came and went and Connor’s Secret Santa remained a mystery.

He ducked out of grabbing a bite with Michaela and Wes with the excuse that he had a few more things to finish before the office closed for the holiday. He did answer a few emails but most of his time was spent on the phone with the airline’s customer service to verify the tickets were, in fact, real.

The customer service agent had the gall to giggle a little when Connor pressed the issue. “I promise you, Sir. No funny business here. We look forward to you flying with us on the 24th.”

Who would do such a thing? Why would someone do something like this? Connor couldn’t even thank them properly. He needed to thank them or pay them back or…or something!

A soft knock on his office door startled him and Connor jumped.

“Oh! My bad, Mr. Walsh.” The office’s security guard Henry smiled good-naturedly at him. “Didn’t mean to scare.”

“No. You didn’t, Henry” Connor tried to lie. He absently picked up his briefcase and started packing up. It was much later than he’d thought. “Sorry about this. I must be the last one here.”

Henry brushed Connor off with a wave. “Not at all, Mr. Walsh,” he said. “Mr. Hampton down in IT’s still here too. Just wanted to make sure you were heading home soon too. Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve, you know?”

Connor smiled at the pointed reminder. “I know and I am gettin’ out of here.” Connor turned to shut down his computer. “You’re off tomorrow, right.”

“That’s right. Off tomorrow but I am coming in the next day.”

“On Christmas?” Connor questioned as he shrugged on his coat.

The guard simply nodded. “Yep. Mr. Hampton again down in IT let us know a few weeks ago he was planning on coming in. If someone’s here, we gonna be here.”

“Mr. Hampton is coming in on Christmas?”

“Something about the servers and people trying out their new toys on Christmas morning.” Henry dismissed it all with a wave of his hand. “He tried to explain but I think it all boiled down to he needs to babysit the machines for the morning.”

Connor nodded. “But still,” he protested as they both walked out of Connor’s office. “You’ve got seniority around here. Why are you pulling the Christmas shift?”

“Well, my kids are all grown. Charlie and Mary - their kids are all still young. Dreaming about Santa and reindeer and all that.” Henry smiled at the memories of his own children all those years ago. “Those two should be with their little ones on Christmas morning.”

Connor nodded with a smile while he locked his door. “You’re a good man, Henry.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far. I do get time-and-a-half too.” Henry burst out in laugh and Connor joined in.

“Another good reason.” Connor smiled. “But you two aren’t going to be here all day, right?”

Henry shook his head. “Oh no. Mr. Hampton didn’t think he’d need to be here more than the morning. ‘There’ll be plenty of time to spend Christmas with those we love,’ is what he said.”

“That’s good then.” Connor held out a hand for Henry to shake. “Well, Merry Christmas, Henry.”

“Merry Christmas to you too, Mr. Walsh.”

With a final wave, Connor headed down to the bank of elevators. The puzzle of his Secret Santa still rolling around in the back of his mind.

The elevator arrived with a ding and just as Henry’s words and the neat printing on the card weighing down his briefcase hit him.

_ ‘There’ll be plenty of time to spend Christmas with those we love,’ is what he said.” _

_ Everyone should be with those they love on Christmas. _

Connor’s head snapped up and he turned to look down the hall where a lonely light was still on in IT

 

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://ramblesandreblogs.tumblr.com)


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